Watt was one of seven athletes on the list and, unlike many of the others, they each made it for their positive attributes, as opposed to notorious behavior and/or nefarious reputations. Everybody in Houston knows what Watt did for the city after Harvey. If he never plays another down of football – I know, bite my tongue – his place in the pantheon of civic heroes is forever secure. Roger Federer, arguably the greatest tennis player of all time, may be an even greater humanitarian, although most of what he does for underprivileged kids around the globe stays way below the radar. And, while Kevin Durant can be a petulant jerk on the court, there's nothing boorish about the $10 million he committed earlier this year to helping youngsters from the hard-scrabble neighborhoods where he grew up in the Washington D.C. area earn college degrees. Virat Kohli, one of the greatest cricketeers ever, is himself a major philanthropist in his native India.

Last sorry chapter of the @lancearmstrong story has been closed. All it cost him was $5 million. With all the cash he pocketed pedaling under the influence, he can afford it. And no doping test for this W.

Although Armstrong hardly invented doping in cycling, he certainly perfected it – with considerable help from the sport he was hugely enriching with his inspirational story line, one he may well have scripted for himself by the stew of chemicals he was ingesting before he got testicular cancer. The common defense/excuse for what the Texan did was "everybody" else was doing it, too. But those everybodys weren't getting away with it, were they? Armstrong's sidekicks of consequence – Floyd Landis, Tyler Hamilton and Roberto Heras, most prominent among them – who left to lead other teams all eventually got busted because they weren't protected by the rigged system anymore and Armstrong was no doubt ratting them out as well. He popped Landis one last time with this sweetheart deal, which ended a whistleblower lawsuit by the feds that, worst case, could have cost him $100 million, a third of which would have been paid to the defrocked 2006 Tour de France champion for tooting his whistle. Instead, Landis will receive only $1.1 million plus another $1.65 million to cover his legal fees. About half of the former sum must be paid back to the folks he duped into helping him fight his doping charges. At least those naïve, if well-meaning, saps will finally be getting whole. Court records show that, as of 2015, Landis had returned a paltry $10,000.

#Texans got treated right by the NFL with the 2018 schedule. Getting Patriots out the of way straight away. Sweet finishing schedule. Should be an AFC South victory lap.

Unless, of course, they stub their collective toe in those early division road games at Tennessee (week 2), Indianapolis (week 4) and Jacksonville (week 7). As coaches are wont to, Bill O'Brien sees the glass as half-empty because of what he calls a "challenging" start to the schedule, which begins with a trip to Foxborough. But I think it's best to catch the Patriots straight away, before they find their groove. Tom Brady has lost two of his past three openers while putting up an average of "only" 25 points per game. Deshaun Watson can easily surpass that, right? And remember what the Chiefs (42) did to New England (27) in last year's opener in Gillette Stadium. Then again, that's going to be a major talking point with Brady and Bill Belichick throughout the preseason. It's hard to see them getting ambushed back to back in front of their fans. The Texans' traveling to Philly for the season's penultimate test looks challenging – and cold – on paper, but maybe the Eagles will have already locked up the NFC East won't be totally tune in. Interestingly, should the final game Dec. 30 against the Jaguars have significant playoff ramifications, it's likely to be rescheduled as a night game, meaning the Texans could play an unprecedented four at home in prime time. Sweet.